jjlin

I would highly, highly recommend the iPad and the Instapaper app -- fantastic reading experience with offline access. Plus full access to Google Reader at fast speeds ;D

http://www.pcworld.com/article/185508/amazon_kindle_is_most_gifted_item_ever.html It also mentions that for the first time ever more e-books were sold than paper books on Christmas day. However, it's impossible to get the exact breakout. Even internally they keep those figures locked down *tight*. Also, imho the single biggest advantage to the Kindle is the ubiquitous cellular network connection, plus the direct tie in to Amazon's catalog. Other readers/devices might be better on a feature-by-feature comparison, but that's missing the point, like all the analyses of mobile devices vs iPhone that fail to consider the immense advantage conferred by the immense installed base of iTunes and the iTunes ecosystem.

This OID interview with Berkowitz/Fernandez has a substantial portion devoted to their reasons for liking Pfizer: http://www.fairholmefunds.com/3-17-2009.pdf One point that wasn't brought up much above that I would add is their distribution system. A huge distribution system is non-trivial moat. Also, if you listen to the call Bekowitz set up with Kindler, one of the other things I like is the way they are doing the re-orgs wrt how folks are compensated. You can't put a number on those things but anyone who's worked in an organization where people are compensated on patents filed vs. P&L will know what a huge difference that makes to how work is approached. Like Munger says, incentives are an extremely powerful force -- and it seem like they are lining up the incentive systems correctly.

no opinion on Dell but perhaps it could be related to the upcoming Windows7 release?

There are a quite a few here in Seattle. They may be in the same segment as a TGIF, but they have kind of carved out the family friendly upscale burger/sitdown restaurant niche. The burgers are pretty good actually, but it's more a restaurant that specializes in burgers (gourmet toppings, etc.) than a burger joint that you sit down in. I'm a bit of a foodie and I don't object when people suggest going to Red Robin (it's a guilty pleasure). They are pricier but somehow it seems reasonable given the setting and everything else. Also they tend to be in good locations: near/in all the major shopping malls (never *in* the mall food court, but as a separate restaurant on the mall or within walking distance), one close to the university, etc. It sounds weird on paper, the same way that spending near $8 for a burrito at Chipotle looks weird, but when you go there it kinda makes sense.

That's a fantastic find. I'm going to print it out for sure and post it somewhere as a reminder -- for others, of course ;D. Thanks for sharing!

I think the thesis (which granted isn't very well developed) is interesting, which is: what happens to those who claim to be value investors after the passing of its most famous (and more importantly, most successful) practitioner? As we all know, humans are social animals and having someone like Buffett around, who continues to do very well very publicly, is a hugely psychologically reassuring. What happens to them when he's gone? I suspect what happens is that messageboards like these start to become more important as folks cast about to find social support ;). As she points out, value investing is by definition contrarian, and a lonely path to tread.

Also a mention of Mohnish Pabrai. Available here: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200909/warren-buffett

Here's the quote from the latest Fairholme letter: For sure, it will take a long time to repair the damaged balance sheets of individuals, corporations and entire nations. Still, we are hopeful that the global economy is on the mend. One of our canaries in the economic coal mine is Hertz Global Holdings. In a June 25 interview on CNBC, Hertz CEO Mark Frissora said “we’ve seen continuous improvement every single week for the last 10 weeks in the US rent-a-car space on improving demand for the summer season. We’ve been buying a lot of cars the last eight weeks…. We’re scrambling to buy as many cars as we can.” Others are beginning to chirp, but are less sanguine. You can find the whole letter here: http://www.fairholmefunds.com/2009semi.pdf

Berkowitz was talking about Hertz, not Avis.

That's great, thanks for sharing. imho Drucker's "The Effective Executive" is superb reading and timeless -- as relevant today, if not more so, than when it was written over 30 years ago, before the advent of emails, cellphones, twitter, texts, blackberries.... I highly, highly recommend it. The subtitle sums it up best: "The definitive guide to getting the *right* things done" (emphasis mine). http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Executive-Definitive-Harperbusiness-Essentials/dp/0060833459

Actually this sector is too tough even for Branson, who is famously quoted as saying "The best way to become a millionaire is to become a billionaire and start an airline": http://www.viamagazine.com/top_stories/articles/future_flying08.asp

This site is fantastic and helps with getting an idea of appropriate places and price ranges to bid on Priceline: http://www.biddingfortravel.com/ It helps with the "information asymmetry" that is the problem with bidding for hotels on Priceline. I have used it and gotten very very good deals on good hotels all over the U.S. and in Montreal.

It's been a while but I believe McMillan's book "Options as a Strategic Investment" is one of the standard tomes: http://www.amazon.com/Options-Strategic-Investment-Lawrence-McMillan/dp/0735201978/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248539705&sr=8-1 Also a fantastic (and free) tool is provided by thinkorswim.com (they recently got acquired by Ameritrade I believe). The software is fantastic (and free) and I believe they have classes and you can do a "paper trade" account to do practice runs on real data. http://www.thinkorswim.com/

More notes here: http://www.rbcpa.com/wesco_notes_Annual_Meeting_2009.pdf